Stocks surge as turnover crosses Tk 1,700cr-mark

Dhaka stocks gained sharply on Thursday with the turnover crossing Tk 1,700 crore after seven months.

The benchmark DSEX index surged 75 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at 6,355 after a profit-taking single-day pause. The rally was led by mainly service, life insurance and financial institutions stocks.

Amid shortened trading hours, the DSE turnover stood at more than Tk 1,777 crore, a significant rise of 57 per cent from the previous session and the highest since January 11, 2022 when it was Tk 1,976 crore.

Dealers said the central bank’s effort to ensure stability in the forex market and the government’s decision to import oil from Russian helped the sentiment.

Coupled with the attractive prices provided a perfect recipe for a bull-run in the market, they added.

In June, the securities regulator raised the minimum investment limit in the secondary market for IPO applications for general and non-residential investors, which also gave a boost to the turnover, according to them.

To save electricity, the bourses cut trading hours by 70 minutes from usual four and a half hours.

Two other indices also closed in the positive territory. The blue-chip index DS30 was up 23.66 points or 1.05 per cent to 2,267 while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, added 11 points or 0.79 per cent to 1,390.

“Dhaka stocks skyrocketed after a single-day break as investors’ confidence rebounded, riding on the expectation of forex market stability due to the recent initiative from the forex dealers, as well as the latest positive updates regarding importing grains and oil from Russia,” said EBL Securities in a note.

The market witnessed a substantial bull run as investors started to inject fresh funds right from the start of the trading session, indicating growing confidence in the market as a result of positive expectations aligned with recent efforts by the regulators and authorities to stabilize the economy, it added.

Almost all the sectors displayed positive returns led by services (5.4 per cent), life insurance (4.9 per cent) and financial institutions (4.6 per cent).

Out of the 386 issues traded, 234 advanced, 54 declined, and 98 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) advanced by 84.2 and 139.0 points respectively.

In May, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission raised the minimum stock market investment requirement to Tk 50,000 from Tk 20,000 for the general investors for qualifying initial public offering quota. The minimum investment for non-resident Bangladeshi was set at Tk 1 lakh.